|
As far as I am aware, the 'clip' was originally a pre-fabricated front or rear section attached to either end of a production-based floorpan to which a tubular roll cage-cum-strengthening bars had been added. The front and rear clips were welded to the centre section, so were never detachable in the sense of being able to unbolt them. This form of construction actually predates Al's IROC Camaro, which is a silhouette car built on a complete bumper-to-bumper Banjo Matthews tube frame chassis.
Today's NASCAR cars are now built on a complete tube frame. The use of the term 'clip' lingers on, and is in casual use to refer to either the front or rear parts of the chassis in general, as opposed to the centre section.
No doubt the Forum's resident NASCAR experts will come online to correct me if I am wrong in the above!
|